


Entering the Spirit World

by nowweareunstoppable



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, Female Character of Color, Female-Centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 04:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2838431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowweareunstoppable/pseuds/nowweareunstoppable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Asami's journey through the Spirit Portal and their first day in the Spirit World. Feelings have been building for a long time and both girls are ready to take a step forward and lay their heart on the line. Of course, the Spirit World has a few tricks of its own to show them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Entering the Spirit World

Asami sucked in a quick breath as the twining lights of the spirit portal spun around them. Korra, feeling her tense up, slid her hands forward so she was gripping Asami’s forearms instead of her hands, steadying her. Asami’s heart thrummed loud and fast under her ribcage and she suspected it wasn’t just the transition between worlds that was sending adrenaline shooting through her. As the lights started to fade from eye blinding white into a scene that was far different from the city they had been in just seconds ago, every inch of Asami’s skin, even her fingertips, were tingling. They scrabbled uneasily for a tighter grip on Korra’s arms.

“Hey, Asami, you can open your eyes now. It was a little jarring my first time too, I should’ve warned you,” Korra said, a smile evident in her voice.

Asami blushed and quickly opened her eyes. Honestly, she hadn’t even realized they’d been closed. The portal lights were so bright they seemed burned into her vision regardless. But through the ghostly bright images still fogging her vision, she could see that Korra was indeed smiling a gentle, teasing smile. Asami started to smile back but before she could, she caught her first glimpse of the Spirit World over the top of Korra’s head and let out a sharp gasp. Korra mistook her wonderment for potential danger, and released her for the first time since leaving Republic City. She spun around, sinking easily into a fighting stance. Her head swiveled back and forth, looking for whatever caused Asami’s alarm, and when she didn’t find it, she glanced back at Asami in confusion.

Asami stepped forward so she was shoulder to shoulder with Korra and gently pushed her fists down. She didn’t look at her though; she was too busy drinking in her first view of the meadow they were in.

“Spirits, Korra. I didn’t know it looked like this…”

Korra giggled, finally realizing her mistake, and bumped her hip against Asami’s. 

“It is pretty great, isn’t it?”

The portal had transported them into a low, loping meadow that slowly rose up into a rolling series of hills, each topped with a small stand of the tallest trees Asami had ever seen. They looked like the cedar trees of the Earth Kingdom, except their trunks stretched and twined into whimsical lines and angles that stretched upwards so high that their bristly tops were shrouded in low, misty clouds. 

But, the trees weren’t what held Asami so captivated. It was the waving grasses of the meadow, though Asami amended that they didn’t even really look like grass. They rose to about knee height on Asami, a little higher on Korra, and they waved in an endless, undulating pattern that reminded her of ocean waves. Instead of being thin like blades of grass either they were cylindrical and round like the tiny tendrils of sea anemones that Asami had seen in the Fire Nation coral reefs.

Asami reached out and tentatively brushed her fingers against one of the deep blue tendrils and gasped again in surprise as the tendril pulsed a brighter neon blue before fading back to its previous darker blue. The tendrils surrounding it carried on the pulse until the girls could see it traveling throughout the meadow in a beautiful, glowing wave.

“Did you see that?” Asami turned her head to take in Korra’s reaction. She was biting her lip in excitement and her eyes were lit up in amazement. Korra looked over at her and burst into a huge grin. Then, she suddenly leapt to her feet and took off. She sprinted through the tendrils in crazy, nonsensical loops; setting off hundreds of pulses in the best lightshow Asami had ever seen. She couldn’t help but laugh at Korra’s whooping and the way she had her arms flung out like the wings of a plane in an innocent, childlike display of elation.

“Slow down, goofball! Wait for me!” Asami called out as she jogged slowly after Korra, reveling at the pulses of light that echoed each of her steps. She wondered if the tendrils had an electrical communication system. Maybe if she could figure out the hive mind connection that seemed to link the meadow together, she could use the concept for-

“Oof!”

Her thinking was interrupted as a very playful Avatar jumped onto her back. Asami’s hands automatically caught and stabilized Korra even as she stumbled forward.

“I can see you building robots in your head. Cut it out, this is supposed to be a vacation,” Korra huffed into her ear, still breathing heavily from her spontaneous sprinting session.

Asami turned her head and nuzzled her cheek against Korra’s face without thinking, and when she realized what she’d done, she tensed up in embarrassment. 

“Uh, sorry, I mean- I wasn’t,” she stuttered. Damn it. Her unconscious desire to be physically close with Korra was breaking free of her control at the weirdest times, lately. She could only be thankful that Korra seemed to be echoing her sentiments lately, especially when they first approached the portal, or she would’ve felt incredibly stupid for grasping at thin air for a hand that wouldn’t have been there.

Korra interrupted her nonsensical apology by huffing affectionately into Asami’s ear.

“Relax, Asami. It’s just me. You don’t have to be nervous.”

Asami smiled and squeezed Korra’s legs. “I’m not nervous,” she replied truthfully, “I’m just…” What was she exactly? Excited? Happy? “Ready. I’m ready.”   
That was the truth. Asami was ready to discover just where her feelings had been leading her for the past few years. And ok, maybe she was just the teensiest bit nervous to see if Korra’s feelings had been taking her to the same destination, or if Asami had been gearing up to make a huge, mortifying mistake. Somehow, though, she didn’t think so. Just remembering the way Korra had looked at her in the spirit portal a few minutes ago made a comfortable warmth spread through her chest.

Korra tapped Asami’s elbows, signaling she wanted to be let down. Asami complied and Korra slid off of her back. She didn’t step backwards though; she stayed flush against Asami and wrapped her arms around her waist. Korra pressed her face between Asami’s shoulder blades and let out a little hum that Asami felt all the way down to her toes.

“Asami… I-I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for a long time. It’s just, with Zaheer, and then Kuvira and then the wedding...” Korra trailed off. “I just, I wanted it to be the right time. I’m sorry it took until now, but- woah! Look at that!”

Korra released Asami and stepped around her. She walked a few steps deeper into the meadow and knelt down. Asami tried to shake off the disappointed swoop in her gut, but it dispersed on its own as soon as Asami knelt down next to Korra and saw what had made her so excited.

The base of a tendril that was slightly thicker than those around it was glowing even though neither Korra nor Asami had touched it. As they watched, the glow was making its way up the undulating stalk, getting brighter and brighter until it suddenly burst from the top of the tendril with a little ‘pop’, making Korra yelp in surprise and fall backwards onto her butt, taking Asami with her.

Their awed gazes followed the tiny glowing ball as it floated up into the breeze. It was about the size of quarter, and as they watched, two tiny curved fins popped out on either side of the ball. It began to spin and move more purposefully higher into the sky. Another ‘pop’ sounded from their left and Asami spun just quick enough to catch another glowing pod spring into the air. 

“Look,” Korra said softly, pointing around at the rest of the meadow. Dozens and dozens of the tendrils were releasing their glowing prizes, and soon the air was thick with spinning lights. The light in the Spirit World had been slowly fading into evening, and it was dark enough now that the pods were nearly the brightest light source. Their fuzzy glow danced across the girls’ faces and the warm breeze stirred Korra’s hair across Asami’s face and tickled her nose.

“I think they’re seedpods,” Asami said, squinting at one that whizzed by Korra’s ear.  
“They must’ve evolved to disperse using the wind, just like maple seeds, in order to expand the meadow. Amazing.”

Korra let out a small breath of laughter. Asami happened to turn towards her at just the right moment, and she would swear later that she actually saw the decision being made in Korra’s eyes.

Korra flashed her signature cocky smile that Asami hadn’t properly seen in years, but would still always be the first expression that came to mind when she thought of Korra. Before she could say anything, Korra grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. Then, Asami didn’t want to say anything because Korra’s hands were on her cheeks, and they were pulling her face down and Korra was finally, finally kissing her. 

She gently took Asami’s bottom lip between her own and her fingers slowly stroked Asami’s jawline. It seemed like an eternity before Asami was able to break through her euphoric paralysis, but as soon as she could move again, she immediately settled her hands on Korra’s hips and tugged her closer, so that every part of Korra was pressed up against Asami. Korra smiled into the kiss when Asami finally responded. She opened her mouth and kissed Korra the way she hadn’t quite let herself dream about kissing her. Asami’s hands moved upwards from Korra’s hips until she was embracing her. One snuck up under one of Korra’s shirttails of its own accord, so that Asami could feel her back muscles tightening and releasing as she wiggled and strained upward into the kiss in a way that reminded Asami of an adorable, excited puppy.

Eventually, both girls were smiling so wide that kissing became nearly impossible and Korra dropped her forehead onto Asami’s collarbone. Asami rested her forehead against the top of Korra’s head and sucked in a few much-needed breaths of air. After a few moments, Korra stepped back so that she could look Asami in the eyes. She had a determined look on her face, and her eyes flashed their striking blue as she sucked in a deep breath.

“You are amazing, Asami Sato,” Korra said, and puffed out her chest, “You are a genius and you are kind, and you are so, so strong. I’m pretty sure I’ve been falling in love with you for years now, and I really hope I haven’t waited too long and that you feel the same way or I may have just made a giant fool of myself.” Korra trailed off and looked up at Asami with probably the most endearingly desperate look that she’d ever seen. 

All Asami wanted to do was grab the stunning girl’s face and kiss her again, over and over until she couldn’t breathe, but she knew that Korra was working herself into a panic waiting for an answer that Asami thought she had already made obvious. She reached for Korra’s hand to try and borrow some of the courage Korra had mustered up to make her declaration. Asami sucked in a deep breath and took the plunge she’d been thinking about all day.

“Oh Korra. Of course I feel the same way. Of course I do. How could you ever think I didn’t?” Asami’s earnest expression transformed into a playful grin as she kept talking, “But really, after what just happened, you honestly thought I might not feel the same way? I thought the Avatar was supposed to be smarter than that.”

Korra ducked her head in embarrassment, but she was smiling so hard that Asami knew her teasing hadn’t actually done any damage.

“I was just making sure!” Korra said defiantly, and tossed her short hair. Then her voice softened and nearly melted Asami’s heart.

“I wanted to hear you actually say it. Just to make sure.”

Asami’s chest swelled with so much joy and warmth and love for the girl in front of her that she thought her pounding heart might actually burst out into the glowing air of the Spirit World.

“Spirits, Korra, how are you even real?” 

She gathered Korra into her arms and hugged her so tightly her feet left the ground. Korra giggled and squirmed until Asami let her touch the ground again, but she didn’t try to escape the hug. Instead, she turned in her arms so that her back was to Asami, and her head was tucked up neatly under Asami’s chin. Korra held Asami’s hands in her own and they gazed contentedly out across the spirit meadow. 

As they were kissing and talking, the meadow had completely faded into nighttime and the glowing seedpods’ light mingled with the flashing stars. Spirits began to emerge into view as they overcame their shyness and started to float, hop, and fly their way over to check out the new visitors. 

Before they were accosted with curious spirit questions, Korra tilted her face upwards toward Asami and said, “So I think this is probably going to be a good vacation, huh?”

Asami ducked her head and pressed her lips against Korra’s temple.

“It’s already the best one I’ve ever been on. Come on; let’s find a place to sleep tonight. Those trees up on the hill look pretty neat.”

Korra nodded in agreement and they set off hand in hand towards the hills, with a parade of seedpods and spirits trailing behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this far! This is my first Korrasami fic, even though I've been shipping them since 2012. I haven't written fic since Glee imploded and basically kicked my heart in the face. These girls becoming canon inspired me to write again and I owe them, and Bryke, so, so much.


End file.
